The Forbidden Trilogy (87 page)

"Shit. It's jammed." Luke's muffled voice came
through the door.

Hunter pulled out his sword. "Let me try. Move
away."

Lucy heard Luke step aside, and Hunter shoved his blade into
the door knob, all the way through it. He pulled open the door and grinned.
"Ladies first."

"Impressive."

Inside, one man slept on a bunk bed, murmuring as he turned
on his side. Hunter pulled a cloth from his pack and covered the man's face for
three seconds, then released. "That should knock him out for a few
hours."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "Why didn't I get one of
those?"

Hunter shrugged. "I don't think Simmons likes
you."

Well, no one can argue with that
, Lucy thought.

They shrugged out of their wetsuits, and Lucy set up her
laptop on the small desk. She plugged into the local intranet and hacked into
the facilities' programs.

First, she looped the cameras. "Luke, go get that guy
outside and bring him in here. Take Hunter to help carry him."

As they left, she checked the main gate access. It would be
tough, but she could open it from here if she had to. That would help Simmons's
agents get in faster—or get out faster, if it came to that.

She flipped through the live camera feeds and found the main
ventilation system, a centralized plant located in the main building. For such
a small compound, they had a big system. She shuddered when she realized it
probably helped control certain experiments, which made her think of Mr. K and
what they'd done to him here.

They'd hit all their objectives, but Lucy couldn't help but
feel that she'd missed something obvious. She looked at her computer, examined
all the feeds, and everything looked fine.

The guys returned with the guard and laid him on one of the
beds. Hunter shrugged off his extra-large pack and dropped it beside the desk.
He must have used his para-strength to swim with that thing. He strapped his
sword to his back and a pistol to his hip, and slung his rifle over his
shoulder.

"Packing enough heat?"

"Can never be too prepared." He winked.

She grinned like an idiot, then focused back on the
computer.

Luke stood over her. "Did you find the ventilation
system?"

"Yep. I'll guide you using the cameras. Just do as I
say."

Luke rolled his eyes. "This isn't exactly my first
rodeo, Sis. I think I know what I'm doing by now."

Before they walked out the door, Hunter kissed her again.
"You going to be okay?"

"I can handle myself. Don't worry. Now go! And be
careful."

The boys left and made their way to the main building.

A buzzing filled Lucy's head, and she felt another presence
settle in.
'Sam?'

"Hey, Luce. Status report?"

'We're in. Won't be long before the guys set off the
sleeping gas in the vents. As soon as they do, I'll open the gate so you guys
can drive straight in, okay?"

"Thanks. I'll be in touch."

As Sam shut the connection, Luke's voice came through the
headset. "We're in the main building."

She checked the cameras. "Go right... keep going... now
stop. There are two guards down the next corridor."

"Got it covered, Sis." Lucy watched the screen as
Luke walked through a few walls and popped up behind the two guards, then
knocked them out with chops to their necks. He grabbed their IDs and started
undressing them.

"Hunter, Luke needs help."

Hunter rounded the corner, and together they secured
themselves two uniforms and IDs. Hunter looked good in the form-fitting black
clothes.

"I like these. We need some at IPI," he said.

Lucy chuckled. "Fashion later, boys. Keep going down
the hall. You're getting close. Shortcut through the hangar to your left."

The guys entered the hangar, and Luke pointed to something.
"Wow. Did you see this, Luce?"

She saw what looked like a cross between a tank and a
helicopter.

"It's an AH-64 Apache," said Hunter.

Luke whistled under his breath. "Seriously
badass."

Lucy noticed rocket pods and cannons hanging from what
looked like a pair of stubby wings. That thing looked dangerous. "I hope
we never have to go up against it. If they'd sent that in to rescue Beleth,
we'd be mincemeat right now."

She scanned the rest of the hangar, which held a much bigger
plane, probably the one they used for Beleth, and another helicopter with less
armor, but still big.

Hunter showed off more of his knowledge. "The other
chopper's a Boeing CH-47 Chinook. It's used for transport."

Luke looked up. "Hey, that's a pretty fancy roof. Looks
like it might open."

Lucy's fingers flew over her keyboard until she found what
she was looking for. "Okay, looks like I can open the roof if we need, or
even keep it closed, depending."

Again, something tugged at her memory, as though she'd
forgotten or overlooked something, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
"All right, guys, time to move on. When you get out of the hangar, head
west."

They followed her command and found themselves face-to-face
with two guards just outside the door.

"Oh crap, guys. I'm sorry. Just stay calm and act like
you belong."

They straightened their backs, and Luke saluted as they
passed. Neither guard paid much attention to them.

Once they'd cleared the guards, Luke looked into one of the
cameras. "What the hell happened, Sis? You nearly got our asses
fried."

"Sorry. The helicopters distracted me. Won't happen
again."

Fewer cameras inside prevented her from getting a full read
on the building, but everything looked good from what she could see. "Go
on in, but keep your wits. There are a lot of dead zones I can't get eyes
on."

Hunter made a thumbs-up sign. "Roger that, Babe."

Babe? Seriously? We need to talk about nicknames.

In the heart of the building, she had only one camera with
which to watch them. "Guys, I can't see much. Again, please be
careful."

This made her nervous, but they were so close. If they could
get the sleep grenades into the main shafts, they'd be almost home free. After
that, Simmons's strike team would barrel in with reinforcements, they'd save
the kids and the baby, and all go home.

Sucks to be stuck at a desk.
Lucy pulled the laptop
onto her lap as she tilted back and forth on her chair, her nervous energy
making this part of the job difficult. She wanted to be out there with them,
but they needed the tech support.

She gripped the bottom of the computer and felt a tiny bump
underneath. Her heart thudded as she turned her computer over to examine it.

"Oh shit. Guys, it's a—"

Too late. A large figure emerged from the shadows, blocking
Hunter and Luke's exit.

Beleth.

He looked at her through the camera. "I'm sorry."

Hunter drew his rifle and fired, but Beleth jumped forward,
and a black-as-oil shield grew around him, surrounding him in a ball. The
bullets bounced off, impotent against whatever protected him. Beleth crashed
against a wall and the shield exploded, erupting into giant spider legs that
sprouted from his back.

One leg shot forward, yanked the rifle from Hunter's hands
and broke it in half.

Luke pulled his own pistol out and fired, but Beleth's arm
transformed into a black shield and blocked the bullets.

Lucy choked on her fear, and debated whether she should go
help them. Would it just make matters worse? What could she do against this
beast? The two men she cared for most in the world were powerless against him.

She should have known. The small oval stuck to her computer
was a tracker. Beleth must have planted it the night he stood over Luke. She'd
led him right to them.

A black streak lashed from Beleth's back and caught Luke by
the leg, tripping him. Lucy put her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming.
Beleth used his spider legs to jump high into the air. A blade grew from his
hand as he flew, heading straight for Luke's throat.

Just before it beheaded her brother, Hunter jumped forward,
his sword extended, and blocked Beleth's attack.

Lucy reached out in desperation.

'Sam! Help! We're in big trouble!'

"We're coming."

Lucy's fear and panic filled our connection.
'Hurry! Luke
and Hunter are stuck in a room with this guy. Sam, I've never seen anything
like him.'

I jumped up and went in search of Simmons, who sat behind a
desk in her office. I explained to her the situation. "They're in trouble.
We need to move now."

Simmons touched a button on her headphones. "Lucy,
what's your status?"

I pulled them off her head. "I told you what their
status is. We need to hurry."

She stood and stared me down with venom in her eyes.
"If they haven't placed the sleeping gas, we can't move."

"They won't be able to place the damn sleeping gas
without our help. They're trapped. We have to move now."

"No." Simmons flicked her finger and the soldiers
around her clutched their weapons. "We can't jeopardize everyone's safety
to save them now. If they get captured, we'll negotiate a release."

I walked out of her office and toward her tent, which
Simmons didn't expect by the look on her face as she scurried after me. I
pocketed the needle she'd threatened me with and grabbed a pistol. "We're
going in after them."

'Over my dead body... this little bitch is not taking
over my mission... I'm going to get my revenge on that asshole if it's the last
thing I do.'

Before she could speak, I interrupted her thoughts.
"I'll kill my father. Then you'll have your revenge."

She didn't back off, but she didn't interfere either.
"I won't be responsible if you fail. No one will come to rescue your
team."

My team had followed me over to the tent and crowded in
around us. "Then stay out of our way." I turned my back on her to
address my friends. "Arm yourselves. We're going in."

Drake and Darren took rifles. Gary found a grenade launcher
and stocked up on ammo, while Robyn and Mary chose pistols. Toby reached for a
machine gun, but Drake swatted his hand away.

I'd stayed in Lucy's thoughts, to keep tabs on their
situation as I handled Simmons. Lucy still had the cameras looped, so if they
could get in quietly, no one would know, not even this Beleth, who, for
whatever reason, hadn't raised the alarms himself.

As we started to head out, I stopped and spun to face
Simmons. With my finger on her chest I hissed at her. "If you do anything
to jeopardize our mission, I will expose your plans. I will expose who you are.
Then... I will kill you."

Tyler Miller sat in his small command station, overseeing
the gate. He scanned the screens in front of him and clicked through the
different cameras. Everything looked fine.

Ned patrolled below, looking out for people sneaking around
near the walls. It barely ever happened, but every now and then some stupid
kid, or a few teenagers, would get curious and see if they could climb the gate
or hop over it from a tree. Never worked, but couldn't let the little bastards
get away with trying it, either.

He propped his legs up on his desk and noisily slurped his
large cup of coffee, glad that at work, his wife couldn't bitch at him for
being too loud. A man should be able to drink a damn cup of coffee however he
wanted. How else was he supposed to cool it down?

His favorite part of the job was the time it gave him to
write his novel. All the other guards hated the boring night shift, but like
most writers, he was a night owl. He also liked that it gave him a reason to
sleep all day and avoid his wife.

The blank page of his notebook stared at him like a living
thing.
Oooo, that's good. I should write that shit down.
He grabbed his
pen and made notes, then returned to his novel. Sal, his main character, had to
get past a large wall. He tried climbing a tree but fell and busted his head.
Tyler described the head wound in exquisite detail, sure that his readers would
love that. He sure knew how to paint a picture. He used up three whole pages of
tiny writing on that one bit, proving that the jerks in his community college
class didn't know shit about quality writing.

Footsteps outside his door alerted him to his boss, Mac, a
big guy who walked like the weight of the world rested on his shoulders.
Oooo,
I need to remember that too.

Mac pushed open the door. "How are things?"

"Good." Tyler scanned the screens again, left to
right, clicking through the cameras. Same pattern each night.

Mac sipped his own coffee, but somehow made less noise than
Tyler. "Okay, don't screw up tonight. Tomorrow's going to be big."

Hell, yeah, big.
Tyler was up for promotion and would
finally be able to buy that sweet laptop he'd seen at Walmart. No more pen and
paper for him—though he did secretly crave the sound of a typewriter as he
pounded out the greatest novel ever. But no one used typewriters anymore. He
heard he could buy an app for his computer that would simulate the sound of
one, which could be cool. He'd have to look into it.

Mac walked out, grunting about something or other, and Tyler
relaxed and looked up at the sky. Being in the mini tower gave him a nice view
of the stars. He loved the quiet of the night and feel of the breeze. He pulled
out his notebook to describe the night, an exercise one of his teacher's had
taught him.

Ned, the night patrolman, called out from below, ruining
Tyler's mojo.

Damn!
He usually had more peace.

"Hey, I got something here."

Shit.
Tyler hoped that something wasn't trouble. He
looked down and saw a girl standing by Ned. "Hold on, I'm coming
down."